The answer in the most simple of terms is very pleasant. For anyone who is easy going, flexible and keen to get to know the local way of doing things it can be very rewarding. Even more so for those wishing to be left to live their lives as they choose.

Like everywhere in the world it does have it’s problems and difficulties. Those though are greatly outweighed by the positives of living a life in Paraguay. Every country has it’s own way of doing things and learning them is all part of the relocation experience.

It would be a dull world if everything was done the same way everywhere.

Whilst getting things done can be at times a little frustrating it is worth remembering that problems affect everyone. Locals and foreigners alike. You will soon discover that if you mention them to foreigners who have been here for a while the root of the issue is often nothing more than cultural misunderstandings.

Once that is realised many of them just fade away. Either through an adjustment of thoughts and expectations or through the acceptance that some things are just they way they are and must be worked with rather than against.

A foreigner who accepts a country for what it is lives a far happier life than one who tries to bend it to his will.

So much for the required mind set. What about the practicalities of living in Paraguay?

I live in the countryside and as such my thoughts on the matter reflect a country lifestyle rather than the city one found in Asuncion other cities in Paraguay.

The country lifestyle is more traditional and for me a more rewarding way to live than that found in cities.

Life in the countryside is a more natural one, closer to nature.

Much of the Paraguayan countryside is a never ending blanket of green. Woods, forests and farmland stretching off into the distance as far as the eye can see.

Out here nature is never far away and the quiet of the day is broken only by the sounds of birds and insects, or by the running of a crystal clear stream. Traffic away from the urban centres is very light.

The closest thing to a rush hour you are going to experience is a herd of cattle being moved to pasture blocking the roads for a short while.

Those urban centres are country towns of varying sizes which are scattered all across Paraguay. Even a few miles from a town the land can feel remote and untouched. Unless you are seeking a truly remote of the grid life there is little reason to live beyond easy reach of a little country town.

All towns are equipped with the essentials. Doctors, supermarkets, hardware stores and the like. Every country town is stocked with the basic necessities required for life.

In the countryside the pace of life is much slower, more relaxed. Nothing gets done in a hurry and everyone has time for everyone else. Paraguayans are very friendly, open people and a new comer is soon made to feel part of the community.

The cost of living is also low in the countryside, from the price of properties to the expense of day to day living.

It is of course quite possible to live in the countryside and have a lifestyle that is as costly as one in the city, but to live well there is no need to do so.

Dining out in restaurants every day and constant shopping trips to seek out the best of everything run counter to the whole reason for seeking a rural country life.

This is not a place that buzzes with the vibrancy of a city but instead somewhere full of more low key charms waiting to be discovered.

A nightlife there may not be vast stretches of green countryside waiting to be explored there is.

It is also far from the tourist trails. So local customs and traditions have not been adjusted to fit in with what it is believed tourists would expect. Every festival is by the local population for the local population. Any newcomers are made more than welcome and these are some of the best places to see genuine Paraguayan culture.

As for a home you will soon discover that with a bit of searching almost anything is available. From small Paraguayan houses in either modern or traditional styles right up to large working farms and ranches. It is even quite possible to buy some land and have your own dream house built on it.

You will also find that scattered as the population looks in the countryside you will not be alone. The Paraguayans infinitely patient and helpful. Get to know your neighbours and will soon find yourself part of a community that cares as much for your well being as you care for theirs.

Then in addition to that there are immigrant communities and expat groups all over Paraguay that can provide support and the outsiders view that is sometimes needed.

Paraguay is a rewarding place to be and to live in Paraguay is relatively easy for someone with the right mindset to settle into.

If you have any questions about Paraguay or would like to know more about living here, or about the country in general don’t hesitate to contact me with your queries.

Also if you haven’t already please do take a look at my YouTube channel (also named Simons Paraguay) so that you may see as well as read about Paraguay.

Link below

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLGJr96FQfkxKzbJ5SGSCFg

The post So what is it like to live in Paraguay? appeared first on Simons Paraguay.

The summer months here run from December to February. It is no coincidence that the schools have their long summer holiday over those months.

Exactly how hot the summer is and what in the way of storms it brings varies from year to year, but even on a slightly less hot year temperatures will climb from time to time above 40 C.

It is the time of year when much of Paraguay slows to a halt. In addition to all the children being off many professionals take a large parts of January off as a summer holiday. Legal work can be hard to get done at that time of year.

During the summer anyone living in the countryside heads for the cooling waters of a crystal clear stream, or at the very least the shade of a large mango tree.

For city dwellers a weekend at a country park and bathing in it’s stream or river is a must.

Summer is also the time when electricity usage peaks in Paraguay. Air conditioning units run all day and all night. In even the smallest of houses fans turn continuously in an effort to take some of the heat and humidity out of the air.

Although the heat can be as fierce in December as in February summer can be split into three phases.

First from the end of November until Christmas and New Year. This is the time for finishing the school year and putting the final touches to any tasks that need completing before the end of the year. It is a busy time with all the build up to Christmas and New Year as well.

Christmas and New Year are both celebrated at night. A sensible action is such a hot land. There on the patios of houses around Paraguay large barbecues are roasted and many drinks are drunk in celebration.

The Christmas celebrations are for the family whereas New Year is more of a party with groups of friends travelling from house to house and the youngsters often heading out to larger parties in the early hours.

Then once Christmas and New Year are over January is very much the holiday month.

Those that can travel either overseas to the beaches of Brazil and Uruguay or to upmarket Paraguayan resorts such as San Bernardino with it’s lake and night life.

They are however the privileged few as most people either settle for weekends in the countryside, or if already living there seek out a river to bathe in nearby.

I always consider that phase of summer being over after the last of the summer festivals. That is San Blas on the 3rd February. Once that last summer party is over it is time for everyone to head back to work, and for children to think about the approach of the new school year.

This makes February the worst of the summer months. By then the novelty of a bright sun and 40 C of heat has well and truly worn off.

Everyone all across Paraguay waits impatiently for the weather to break and the air to have a slightly more autumnal feel to it.

That always happens at some point during the second half of February. The is no certainty as to when the weather will break. All that is for sure is that by March the heat will be far more pleasant.

This year has been a hot and very dry summer. It remained around 40 C for days on end and the rains didn’t fall. The normal pattern is for the heat to build then every week or two for a storm to freshen the air and bring the temperature down for a couple of days.

However the storms did not come this year. The last was over Christmas. The result was day after day of extreme heat and hot and humid nights.

I spent much of December and January in England and so missed most of the summer. It was though still very hot when I returned to Paraguay in late January.

All the humidity in the air meant it took much longer than normal to adjust from the cold of and English winter to the heat of a Paraguayan summer. It was a couple of weeks before I was fully at ease with all the heat.

Now in mid February is seems that the highest of the temperatures may be over for this year.

A blanket of thick cloud rolled up from Argentina and overnight the temperature dropped 10 C and the humidity vanished.

There are many reasons why Paraguay traps differing amounts of heat from year to year. Global and continental weather patterns are the real drivers. However behind it all the undeniable fact the Paraguay like elsewhere in the world is by incremental steps becoming a hotter place.

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Summer should be a time of sunshine and showers. The time of year when the heat builds up but the air is freshened as periodic storms return the evaporated moisture to the ground.

Winter is traditionally the dry season. Then there is insufficient heat to drive the cycle of evaporation and precipitation. Weeks without rain during winter time are quite normal.

Not so in summer where heat of the sun drives a system which most years ensures that water is returned to the land in the form of regular rain storms. Stopping the land from becoming dry and parched.

This year however that has not been the case.

All through the summer the sun baked the land. Water was sucked away from it but climatic conditions stopped the storms that should have returned that water from forming.

As such there were few damp days to help moderate the summer temperatures. Readings above 40 degrees are not uncommon in summer but this year they continued to be seem for day after day.

It has also been a bad time for agriculture as without rain to aid growth crops have wilted in the parched fields.

Those almost drought like conditions that continued for the whole of the long summer could not last forever. The arrival of autumn was sure to bring them to an end.

The first sign that summer was over and autumn had arrived came last week.

Then at last there was a good rain fall. Those rains were for the first time in months not followed by high humidity and a quick return of the heat.

Instead it acted to take most of the humidity out of the air making the land both cooler and fresher. For the first time in months the air was not so moisture filled as to make sweating unavoidable. Sleeping suddenly became something that was comfortable to do.

This week further rain was forecast. Days rather than hours of rain this time. Once it had passed the air would have the pleasant freshness of autumn.

The storm when it came was the heaviest Paraguay had seen for a very long time. It bought much rain and a lot of disturbance and difficulties.

On Tuesday afternoon the sky began to blacken and fill with clouds as the storm built up. It was clear to everyone that a storm was coming. It was just its scale that was unknown.

Late afternoon after the clouds had been building for several hours there were the first few large spots of rain. Once they had fallen the storm raced in with great speed.

The rain quickly became torrential and for the first hour was driven on by a fierce wind as the storm front passed by.

Always when a storm arrives it does so with wind. The strength of the wind varies from breeze to gale but is always strongest when the rains begin calming thereafter.

This deluge soon flooded the garden which disappeared under a few inches of water. The rate at which the rain fell quickly overwhelmed the rate at which it could be drained away.

Surprisingly the electricity stayed on. Here it is common for the electric to go off soon after the thunder and lightning get going.

Some of those lightning strikes were quite close. A bright flash followed imminently by a house shaking bang.

However much rain fell upon my house and garden I was fortunate to be living on a gently sloping hillside. So gravity always takes water somewhere else.

Not everyone is in such a position.

In the towns and cities across Paraguay streets turned to rivers as the falling rain overwhelmed all the drains.

The storm bought in its wake both damage and causalities. Cars were washed away. Walls and houses toppled. Homes filled with flood water.

Often it is the lightning which causes the most causalities. This time however it was the sheer volume of water that did the damage.

Many people will be mopping out and repairing houses for a long while.

Beyond that the storm also had a detrimental effect on peoples social lives.

This week the largest music festival for a long time was due to take place in Asuncion. It had been due to run for two days.

The first days had to be abandoned due to the storm. The danger of preforming in such conditions along with the venue turning quickly into a swamp.

After that the second day always looked in doubt. Those doubts were turned into a cancellation when the plane carrying the singer who was due to headline the festival had to make and emergency landing following a lightning strike.

For me far away from such things all I could do was sit out the storm and wait for the rains to stop.

They fell heavily all night Tuesday and all through Wednesday morning. It wad lunch time before they finally stopped. Even then the sky remained dark with the possibility of more rain.

On Wednesday however the real trouble was not the water. Instead it was the electric.

That went off soon after first light and did not come back on until midday. Then after a couple of hours it went off once more not returning until early evening.

Along with streets and houses the storm would have damaged the electric grid.

Now on Thursday two days later the sky is again black and rain is once more falling. Not with the force it fell previously but steadily and now with no wind to move the clouds on.

Additionally today whilst the electric is now functioning the water is now off. Another of the joys of living in the countryside.

That though will pass and once in a couple of days once the sun has returned I will be able to look forward to enjoying a few weeks of warm and fresh autumn days.

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This year however the heat has lasted unbroken for weeks rather than days. Weather that is extreme even for Paraguayan summer.

Temperatures every year at the height of summer rise above 40 degrees centigrade. Just like frost in the winter the maximums only last for a few days before passing. Often a large electrical storm will clear the air. The temperature drops by 10 or more degrees before slowly building again,

That however is not how 2022 has begun. The summer heat has risen as normal to about 40 degrees. Then however the rains have not come and so the temperature has continued to rise before reaching a plateau above 40 degrees.

That is not though the entirety of the heating. With humidity also rising and not being dissipated by the rain the temperature felt is several degrees higher. In excess of 45 degrees.

These conditions have now continued for more than two weeks with at least one more to come.

At these extreme temperatures Paraguay has become a very quite land. There is little traffic or movement on the streets as everyone who can stays indoors out of the sun.

From the vantage point of my country house I normally hear few sounds that are not those of nature. Now there is silence for days on end. People are nowhere to be seen and even the wildlife has sought somewhere to hide.

As the population struggles to go about their lives in the heat so to the wildlife suffers. Much as the birds and animals are native to the land the unrelenting heat puts pressure upon them also.

I put out food daily for the birds but there is little point in putting out water.

Firstly any standing water is an invitation for mosquitoes to breed. Obviously not a good idea. And secondly a small dish of water even left in the shade will soon become warm enough for a good cup of tea.

Beyond the fauna the flora is also having a hard time. The grasses and weeds in Paraguay are tough. Even they though need an occasional good soaking if they are to survive and thrive.

Now though the grass which should be thick and lush at this time of year is dry and little more than straw. Beside it even the toughest of the weeds are shriveling away to nothing.

Fields and gardens are parched. The toughest plants hanging on longest but nothing looking healthy.

For a Paraguayan country family that is a problem. Most households out in the countryside have a cow or two. Under normal circumstances there is plenty of pasture to go round. With the moisture gone the once lush grass is tough, dry and unappetizing to all but the most hungry of beasts.

It goes without saying that these conditions make life hard to for arable farmers. The best financed farms may have their irrigation systems but the rest have just a potentially poor harvest to look forward to. Small farms even in good years like those across the world make little more than enough to cover their costs.

Paraguay in these dry times has even changed colour. The vast fields of deep green have been replaced by ones of a lighter more desiccated green.

Away from the fields and pastures Paraguay has changed as well. Much of the roads are still earthen tracks. The drying of the land has altered them to.

Where once they formed solid road surfaces they are now filled in many places with deep soft sand. when the wind blows great clouds of sand and dust roll along the roads.

These winds to are very dry. From time to time they blow with great strength but they blow from the north. From the dry interior of the continent. As they pass they take with them any moisture that does remain.

A further problem with the dry heat is one that is more normally associated with winter. That is the dry season. Fire.

In many places across Paraguay fires are burning out of control;. Despite the threat of fines and even prison many of these are still started by man and not nature. Once grasslands start to burn the fire is almost unstoppable until fuel has been exhausted.

Even in the countryside well away from the pollution of the cities the sky is filled with haze. Smoke from fires blocking out the sunlight.

For now like everyone else my life has been forced to slow down.

The majority is spent outside where under a tree some shade can be found and the breeze caught.

Only at night do I head indoors and even then the humidity is far greater there than it is outside.

These extreme days will end. Everyone knows that. Probably with several days of electrical storms and heavy rains that will bring their own problems.

However as the world continues to warm up no one knows quite how hot places like Paraguay will become and how often summers like this one will occur.

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Much of the rain which falls in Paraguay comes in the form of electrical storms. These are driven by high temperatures evaporating moisture from the ground.

The temperature being a little lower during the winter there is less heat available to drive the formation of clouds and then storms.

Furthermore Paraguay lies far from the sea and so any weather systems blowing in from over the seas have had plenty of time to loose all their moisture long before they reach Paraguay.

As such it is normal and expected that during the winter months less rain should fall.

Winter in Paraguay runs from June to September. It is not though a time of prolonged cold periods. Rather most days are bright and sunny. Just a little cooler than the rest of the year.

This pleasant weather is lost just a few times during the winter months. At those times systems of cold air blow up from the antarctic and drive temperatures below zero for a few days.

These cold spells are always driven on by a strong dry wind and never last for more than a few days.

Every year frost falls upon my lands. Some years there may just be one frost during the winter. This year though there were four making it a very long winter.

It has also been an unusually dry winter. In normal years there are to be expected at least a couple of prolonged wet spells in the winter months. This year however there have been just a few scattered wet days.

That almost complete lack of rain along with the record temperatures being reached on fine days hint at how the climate has changed. Looking back at how different the general weather patterns are from those seen in the past there is little doubt that climate change has affected Paraguay. The climate is not changing it has changed.

The net result of the long dry winter and the several frosts that have coated the land is a land devoid of moisture.

Water levels in the streams and rivers are very low and the grass lies upon the land as dry straw.

The dry grass always brings a danger of fire throughout the winter. Last year there were fires burning in every corner of the land. This year despite a large public information campaign and threats of fines there were again many fires lit to clear patches of land which as always ran out of control.

The problem was slightly less on the whole than last year and the a wet day last week brought the worst of them under control.

Now as spring arrives the plants know it is time to grow again. Trees are all putting on fresh leaves. The lack of rain means though there is less water in the soil to support the growth. So leaves form and leaves fall rather than maturing as the trees lack the water they need for growth.

The trees once they are well watered will be filled with fresh foliage but for now are wasting their energy on leaves they cannot keep.

It remains to be seen how this will effect fruit trees. This year in the local area there was very little fruit on the citrus trees, but it is too early to tell what next years harvest will be like.

Other things do need planting and unless rains arrive some farmers may struggle with their crops.

Still the ground is covered by a brown blanket of dead dry grass and this too needs watering before it can turn green once more. As long as the grass remains in that state the risk of fire remains.

I am very glad I am not a farmer waiting for the right time to plant crops.

All I have needing to go in the ground are a number of trees I have been growing for the past year in pots. They need planting out be right now they would not survive if they were.

The soil is dry and without any moisture. The soil is a heavy clay soil which and right now the surface is dust and all the is below baked solid. Only the toughest of plants could force their roots through that.

The rains will come at some point to Paraguay. Then everything will burst once more into life. The land will quickly become green and the dry of winter will be forgotten.

However winter will return and there is no reason to suspect that the general drying trend that has been seen in recent years will not continue.

Some agriculture may have to change and stronger anti fire measures will need to be put in place. The people though will adapt as they must do and the best will be made of whatever the future climatic conditions turn out to be.

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This is not a land where winter means months of never ending cold. Instead it is a time when short sharp spells of cold weather may arrive at any time.

Winter itself in Paraguay can be said to run from mid June through to mid August. Despite it being thought of as a hot land during that time some very cold days and nights can be experienced.

The average temperatures are also much lower at that time of year. Rather than the high 30s and beyond which mark out summer temperatures in the mid 20s are more normal.

This makes it on the whole a very pleasant time of year. Not too hot to be spending many hours working outdoors. Also the reduced heat causes less evaporation and so there is less moisture in the air to power the electrical storms which bring much of Paraguays rain.

It is the driest time of year. Days or even weeks on end with clear blue skies.

The lower temperatures and shorter daylight hours do though give the land less time each day to heat up. Accordingly as soon as the sun sets the temperature drops. This makes the nights and evenings much fresher and sometimes even a little cool.

If is was not for the potential of a cold spell occurring it would be almost the perfect time of year.

The cold when it does arrive always comes from the same place. The south. A mass of cold air blowing up from Antarctica.

For this cold air to reach Paraguay it must first travel a great distance up southern South America and over the Argentine pampus. On its journey it lost all its moisture long before it reaches Paraguay. However cold it gets it never snows in Paraguay.

The arrival of such a weather system appears first in the sky.

The blue is replaced by a thick blanket of low grey cloud. These block out the sun for a day of two sucking heat from the ground. These clouds often bring hours of cold and heavy rain. Moisture that is driven before the mass of cold polar air.

Once the rains have cleared the clouds remain and a strong wind blows. This is always a south wind. Dry and chilling.

It is this wind that heralds the arrival of the polar air. The sky remains thickly clouded and the piercing wind drives all moisture from the land.

During the day it can be bitterly cold and anyone who is able stays indoors trying to keep warm until it has passed.

At night with the cold dry wind temperatures can and do fall below zero. This coats the fields and houses with a thick layer of frost.

First thing in the morning on a frosty day Paraguay can look like a winter wonderland and it takes until mid morning before the last of it has melted away.

The size of the polar air masses mean that the normal pattern is a couple of cold nights, then a couple of frosty ones followed by a couple more cold ones while the cold air clears away.

Cold spells arriving like this are dependent on weather systems more than the calendar. As such some years winter may have just one frosty spell and others three or four.

Although the temperature only drops a few degrees below zero it is enough to freeze everyone and everything in Paraguay.

Houses are built to cope with heat not cold. Insulation would turn them into ovens during summer time. Also having fresh air entering the house is needed to keep indoor temperatures down. So window and door frames are rarely sealed.

All that means that cold air soon finds it way into the house and with walls being built of just a single layer of brick cold quickly seeps indoors through the brickwork.

These are the days where everyone who can remain wrapped under a blanket does and few people venture out without good reason.

Outside animals retreat to their burrows waiting for warmer days. Insects can’t cope with this cold. One great positive of a cold spell is the complete lack of mosquitoes and other biting insects after it.

Once the warmth returns insect free evenings can be enjoyed outdoors.

The flora also is battered by the cold.

Slightly less in the towns and cities where the buildings trap heat and offer protection to more delicate plants.

Out in the countryside however there is nothing to protect the plants from the frost. Those that have always grown here are either immune to a couple of nights of frost or die back only slightly.

Those however that have their origins elsewhere and flourish in the heat of the Paraguayan summer but are not evolved to be able to cope with being frozen suffer.

Where I live in the open countryside growing a mango or pawpaw is almost impossible and even a banana needs a little shelter.

The most noticeable feature of the landscape after a frost is not the leafless trees but the grass.

The fields that just a few days before were lush and green are now filled with dry and yellowed straw. This is the time when cattle struggle to find food.

The grasses have all been killed off and are dead and lifeless. However as a plant grass is very hard to kill. Once the first warmth of spring arrives fresh green shoots will begin pushing up from its under ground roots.

Within the first weeks of spring the fields will been green from horizon to horizon once more.

All this dry straw is a danger however. Until the fields turn green once more grass fires are a risk all across Paraguay. Once started they are all but unstoppable until all the fuel has been consumed. A fire can reduce a large area of land to ash.

In recent years efforts have been made to stop people setting fires in the dry grasses and letting them run to clear vast areas of land. So now fortunately there is less chance of a neighbour deciding to clear his fields with fire and in so doing so turning my garden to ash.

Winter then despite what you may have heard is a real event in Paraguay. Days of biting cold that could not be described as anything else.

A few days though and the sun returns. Temperatures rise and everyone can go about their business once more.

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Sometimes it may be just one kept to supply a family with their daily milk. At others it may be one of thousands in a herd on a vast estate. More usually though it is to be found somewhere in the middle. A member of a small herd owned and grazed by a family.

As would be expected the most natural habit for cattle is outside of the towns. Where open pastures can be found and grazed daily.

However along chickens that have moved from country to town gardens there are always a few cows about town. This is not their ideal environment and they are generally forced to scavenge along road verges.

Fortunately most people learn soon after moving into town that it is not a place to keep and raise cattle.

Outside the towns however things are very different. Here almost every family has a cow or some cattle.

I myself don’t have any. The simple reason for that being that a cow is more demanding than the average pet. They need every day to be taken to pasture and to water. As such require someone be home every day to tend to them.

If I had cattle all but the very shortest of journeys would be impracticable.

However that does not mean my garden is devoid of cattle. Far from it.

There are five acres of prime pasture. Enough to feed several cattle.

To graze on this grass I invite cattle from the neighbouring houses.

One neighbour has a large herd and two or three times I wake to find part of it in the garden.

From the other side comes daily a cow with two small calves. That neighbour also has a herd but likes to keep the youngest nearby. The corner of my garden is just right for that.

These animals are all very welcome and there is just one simple rule. They must all be tied to something.

Being tied to a long rope is ideal as that way the cow has ample food within walking distance of where it is secured. Strange as it may seem any cow that is not tied down heads straight for the house to eat whatever is found growing there and to trample the garden.

No need though to secure calves. When they do inevitably come and visit the house they can’t do much damage.

As well as giving me company in the garden these cows preform an important task. Their constant grazing keeps the grass down. What would be waist high is kept to ankle height.

Furthermore if for example the driveway starts to look a bit over grown it is simplicity itself to arrange for cattle to placed along it. Within a couple of days the grass is mown short once more.

These eco friendly lawn mowers are a useful addition to any large garden. And whats more not being mine they are taken away every evening to be watered and housed for the night.

These same domestic goings on happen everyday in almost every house along the country valley in which I live.

Most households own a small herd of cattle with at least one for milk.

One of the first tasks of the day is to take the cattle to pasture. Either across fields or along the track. Then after being checked upon midday the last of the days jobs is to bring them home.

Cows are always stabled for the night near the house. That way they are always in earshot should anything occur during the night.

As cattle often have to be walked a short distance along the track to and from pasture I often encounter them. A large herd may force me to stop until it has passed but if there are just a few cow I can weave my way through them on my motorbike.

Here where everything is either green pasture or dirt track people and cows are rarely in conflict.

It is rather different where houses have paved roads running by them. Here cows need to be walked along or at the very least crossed over the carriageways. A hazard to traffic at the best of times.

Many times I have come over the brow of a hill or round a blind bend to be faced by a road full of cows.

They do not move when approached by a vehicle and cross roads with no concern to what may be travelling down it. Unsurprisingly cattle cause a number of traffic accidents.

It is known by everyone that cattle and paved roads don’t mix. But regardless of statements made by police and councils old habits are very hard to break.

Cows are also the principal reason travelling at night is discouraged. Even with headlights and on a starry night that large black cow about to step into the road is very hard to spot.

Cows like everything have their place. The Paraguayan countryside is very much their place. There they can feast and grow fat on the lush grasses.

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Most nights are cloud free. This means that almost always there are stars to be seen.

Added to that the lack of light pollution and the sights are spectacular.

The nights are starry in Asuncion but that is nothing compared with the display the country skies put on. Night after night the sky glistens with starlight.

In front of my house there is a small amount of light generated by nearby dwellings and the distant lights of Piribebuy glow along the ridge line of the hills. Not enough light though to do any more than dim slightly the stars and obscure the very lowest.

However behind my house the sky is as black as it was long before people set up home in these parts. On a moonless night it is so black that even a hand in front of the face cannot be seen just a few metres behind the house.

No a single artificial light is to be seen. Just the black sky and thousands of stars.

With such clear air the constellations are filled with far more points of light than books on star gazing mention. Many many more than are visible in more populated areas.

Added to that the designs seen up in the Southern sky are very different to those in the Northern one.

A few of the constellations that are seen to the south from northern lands are visible. One of those is Orion which is fortunatly so distinctive that even with a few extra stars it is clear and easily spotted.

Another feature visible from elsewhere is the Pleiades Cluster. Here even with the naked eye it is easy to make out that it is made up of several stars close together in the sky.

Much beyond that and northern constellations are either below the horizon or hidden amongst the additional points of light. A trained star gazer would still be able to pick them out. But unfortunately I can’t.

As for the stars and constellations that fill the southern skies few are familiar names elsewhere.

A few such as the Southern Cross are so well known as to be recognizable even to those who have never seen them.

Others with names such as Tucana, Phoenix and Centaurus are know to few who have not studied the southern skies.

Probably though the most distinctive feature which fills the skies night after night is not the vast numbers of stars. Instead it is the Milky Way.

The Milky Way winds its way across the center of the heavens. From one horizon to the other. The multitude of stars from which it is formed form a thick light band across the sky.

Against the jet black backdrop it is easy to see how it came to be described as being as white as milk.

Ever night I can sit out on the terrace, look up and see this all in the heavens above me. The raised ground on which the house is placed is as good for taking in the view at night as it is during the day.

Clear unpolluted air. Free from man made lights, industrial and traffic fumes and on high ground. A delight to be seen. And it is not only the stars that make an appearance night after night. The planets to are on display.

Everyday both Mars and Venus are easy to spot. Shining points of light rather than the flickering ones that are the stars.

Beyond this if I look at the right time in the right direction I may well see more planets. Saturn, Jupiter and Mercury are all visible without a telescope.

These things have all been up in the sky for millions of years, but there are other object up there which have been there for a much much shorter time.

Man made satellites are there to be spotted in the clear Paraguayan skies.

The largest and most obvious is the International Space Station. A bright light in the sky that displays how unnatural it is by flickering different colours. Most nights I can find it somewhere in the sky.

Then smaller than this are the many other satellites that orbit the Earth. Usually during a night one or two at least can be spotted crossing the sky.

Satellites have a number of distinguishing features to identify them by. Firstly like stars they flicker, but unlike them in different colours. Secondly as the visible ones are those in low Earth orbits they are always low to the horizon.

Then finally their relative motion is far greater than any star. They pass them by travelling from one constellation to the next and crossing the whole sky during the course of a night.

Then if that was not enough to keep me out in the fresh air there is one final thing that occasionally appears and which I never saw in a cloudy European sky. Shooting stars.

Points of light that flash across the sky. They are gone almost as soon as they appear so watching and waiting is almost the only way to see one fly across the night sky.

This is the pleasure every night can be. No sound other than the insects and no lights other than the stars above.

The post The starry skies of a Paraguayan night appeared first on Simons Paraguay.

Not only in Paraguay are they common. They have a large range that extends from Southern USA all the way down to Northern Argentina.

The Smooth Billed Ani (Crotophaga Ani) is a member of the cuckoo family. However unlike other members of the family it is not parasitic. It does not seek out nests of other birds in which to deposit its eggs.

Instead the Anis live in large colonies and the young are cared for communally. These communal nests can be home to asw many as 25 birds. Within them the chicks are often cared for by the youngsters who were themselves chicks the year before.

This allows the adult birds to all leave the nest together as a flock. The flock will stay together as the birds seek out food.

The Ani itself is a fairly large bird of 35 cm in length. Being large and also jet black they are also very conspicuous amongst the green grasses.

The birds have short wings and a long squared off tail. Also a large heavy beak.

They are not graceful fliers. The flight of an Ani tends to be a few sharp wing flaps, a long flat glide and then a crash landing.

Watching these birds for any length of time and all feelings of how sinister they may be. All black and with those large beaks soon vanishes. Instead it is the comedy of their ungainly movements that quickly wins through.

The large tails are in fact more of a hindrance than an aid to flight. They flop lazily behind the birds and in anything more than a gentle breeze can cause the bird to be blown off course.

Unsurprisingly something that travels so poorly by air does much better on the ground.

An Ani is more likely to be seen walking than flying. The flock works its way across the grass looking for any suitable snack to eat.

They are carnivorous so it is animals rather than plants they are seeking. The usual diet for an Ani is insects and termites but they will take small lizards and frogs.

Given their means of hunting it should not be surprising that their preferred habitats are ones in which they can see their prey on the ground. Open or semi open areas suit them best. Grasslands or cultivated fields being ideal.

As humans also flourish in these environments, turning forest to grasslands and fields it is not surprising that in Paraguay where there are people there are also Anis.

They do not come too close to people if that can be avoided and a flock is easily scattered by a passing person. However they will come fairly close and if startled soon regroup and return.

In addition to not being forest birds Anis are also not mountaineers. They keep to the lowlands venturing up only onto low hills and the lower slopes of larger ones.

I often see a flock of them working their way around my garden in search of prey. There will be as many as a dozen or even twenty birds in the flock making them very easy to spot.

The first sign I usually have that there are Anis around is the sound they make. They are very vocal birds that have a distinctive call. Each bird will join in the chorus which can be heard from a good distance.

Then once they have arrived the next sound will be the bangs and crashes as they make flights towards where they intend to browse. Then finally the rustle of the grass as the birds walk though it searching for their prey.

All in all they are an easy and enjoyable bird to watch as they go about their business. Of course though their poor attempts at flight do mean that when ever the flock is startled it makes such a racket taking to the air that any other birds that may be in the vicinity are also scared off.

That though is all part of trying to watch birds in the garden.

The post Smooth Billed Ani. Common sight and a poor flyer appeared first on Simons Paraguay.

There are a number of distinct members of the puffbird family. Each with its own appearance and habitat.

The member of the family most often seen in Paraguay is the White Eared Puffbird. Nystalus Chacura. The Chacura in its scientific name comes from its Guarani name the Chakura.

The White Eared Puffibird has a large natural range. It can be found from Peru to Argentina. Although in Peru it is a rare bird found in just a few locations. It is by nature a bird of forests and tropical savannas but where it is more common, such as in Paraguay, it is to be found in a much wider range of habitats.

The bird itself is not large, reaching just 22cm. It is however very distinctive and easily identified. All puffbirds look squat and plump and this one is no different.

Its body is white and the wings black. The head is black except for a white eye stripe from which it gets is name. The beak is also easily identified. Large, strong, pointed and bright orange.

The English name comes from how round a puffbird looks sitting on its perch and its habit of puffing its feathers up so as to appear larger when threatened.

The puffbird is an opportunistic ambush predator happy to tackle anything of a suitable size that comes its way. This unfussy attitude towards potential prey allows the bird to thrive in a wide variety of environments.

Principal to its diet though are small lizards, amphibians and insects. Although anything that comes its way, even small mammals is potential prey.

The hunting method of a puffbird is to wait for a meal to come its way rather than actively go out and seek one. This is normally achieved by perching on a branch or something similar and keeping a keen eye on the ground below.

When hunting a bird will patiently wait for as long as it takes for something edible to come its way. A bird may sit for hours waiting for its prey to arrive.

When doing so the puffbird will sit motionless, unseen from the ground below. It will also wait in silence. A puffbird can call with a loud whistle like sound but for most of the time most of the days it remains silent.

In the Paraguayan countryside where they are common they have long since spread out of the forests. Here they can regularly be found in trees bordering open fields or even perched in garden trees.

They are not birds that form together in flocks. Instead they live a more solitary life, each with its own patch of territory. When I spot a puffbird in one of my trees it is always either by itself of the member of a pair.

When there are a pair they will have a nest hidden a short distance away. Between the sexes there are little difference and so both male and female look alike.

Sitting motionless as they do waiting for prey a puffbird will not move unless it has to or it is feels threatened. As such it is possible to get quite close to a perched bird before it takes to the wing.

And they clearly learn the best places to wait looking for prey for their are a couple of trees near my house which are clearly preferred perches.

To sit and watch one of these little round birds staring motionlessly at the ground is one of the many pleasures of a Paraguayan country garden.

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